Red Sky, Early Morning

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. The small, round port hole afforded only a limited view, its triple panes protecting the interior of the captain's wardroom. She felt a trepidation at the forthcoming journey that bored into her soul. Her captain had been her lover for a time, and his ardent invitation for her to join him for the trip to the New World meant leaving home for good. Sadness mixed with exhilaration as she tried to watch as they prepared to leave their home port.

Minutes seemed to turn to hours as she felt the gentle rocking of the ship lulling her lithe form to a torpor in her hammock. Sleepy eyes dropped slowly closed, then popped open as the hatch swung and Captain stepped gingerly through the opening. His every movement was carefully choreographed to prevent him losing his balance as he glided over to the hammock. She smiled slightly at the sight of her lover, and he kissed her forehead.

"We are set to depart ahead of schedule. The storm will arrive soon, and there's no use risking our lives any further." She winced at his almost flippant tone at what she had been told would be such a tremendous event. He dipped his head and apologized, reaching out to touch her hand in reassurance. "Why did you wait so long to tell me, Franz? I don't know if I can go through with it now..." she pleaded. Franz looked over at her, a furrowed brow shading his deep brown eyes. "Would you have gone with me? You and..." His hand slid down onto her belly. "...our child, had you known?"

She looked away, wishing she could see her home one more time, the sadness welling up inside her as the dawn began to creep across the horizon. They knew the sky would soon be red, and Franz recalled an old maritime saying. It seemed ironic and fitting more than ever today. He followed her gaze to the port hole, wondering what morbid curiosity would drive her to actually want to watch what was coming. "Maybe it's best we don't think about it, Maria. More than likely, everyone we know back there will be gone by day's end."

Maria burst out in tears, her chest heaving with uncontrollable sobbing. Franz felt helpless to assuage her sorrow, but gently took her hand in his while she wept. He took out a handkerchief and dabbed at her tears. She gulped a couple of times, and huskily told him she will be fine in a moment. Still, she grabbed the hanky and buried her face in it for a time. A klaxon sounded: The final call before debarking. Franz brought her hand to his lips and softly kissed it. "It's an irony that we represent the first and last colonists to make this trip. It was important to me personally that you came with us. We should arrive in time for the birth of our child. The facilities should be ready to receive us, the hospital is already operational."

Maria sniffled a bit, then asked if Franz would stay in the wardroom with her until after they got underway. He smiled and nodded. "Maybe we should bear witness after all. The children will ask all kinds of questions when they're old enough." Franz turned and waved his hand at a panel on the wall by the hammocks. A section of the opposite wall near the port hole turned black and a view of the planet Earth filled the space. The terminator was receding from the east coast of the Americas, cloud cover ranged from the mid-Atlantic all the way to Hispaniola. The old adage came back to mind as Franz imagined the early morning skies would indeed have turned red with the Sun angling its rays through those clouds.

He began to feel nostalgic about all that he was leaving behind as well, and a single tear formed at the corner of his eye. Maria's grip tightened as they watched, and another klaxon called out. A disembodied voice was heard throughout the ship. "This is the pilot speaking. Please secure yourselves, we are about to begin our primary burn. For those who feel the need to pray, feel free to do so now. We will observe a moment of silence for our home planet. May God have mercy on our souls."

The only sound was a low subsonic hum from distant ship's systems maintaining life support and the seemingly loud thumping in their chests as Franz and Maria watched as a tiny dot raced across the screen, headed straight towards their home. Maria asked, "Is that it?" Franz hummed assent. "They called it Abaddon. The Destroyer of Worlds. Harsh, but accurate. It is a mere ten miles long, less than a mile wide, but larger than the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs." Maria wept as Franz recited the facts.

"They say it will enter the atmosphere at 60,000 miles per hour, heating to a temperature that will rival the surface of the Sun. When it strikes somewhere west of Denver, it will instantly vaporize every city and town within a two hundred mile radius. The fireball will burn away the atmosphere for hundreds of miles and the shock wave will round the planet five times or more." Maris buried her face in his chest as he watched sullenly as a streak of flame formed above the planet. Abaddon was coming in flatter than expected and it had formed a tail of fire thousands of miles long. The light was almost blinding, even from high orbit.

Franz took in a sharp breath as he saw the tail terminate in the west coast of America, the fire lighting up the entire Pacific basin. Just then, he felt the tug as the primary burn began. The day had been thick with irony, as the two hundred colonists, chosen as humanity's last chance, began a journey into space. Franz believed their unborn child would indeed be born right on schedule, barring any complications, after their journey ends on the planet Mars.